The Spanish newspaper El País has appointed its first female editor in its 42-year history at the end of a week that has also seen a record number of women chosen to serve in the new government’s cabinet.

Soledad Gallego-Díaz, 67, joined the paper shortly after its founding in 1976 and has been its correspondent in Brussels, London, Paris, Buenos Aires and New York. She has also served as deputy editor and ombudsman.

She was nominated by El País’s board and received the backing of more than 97% of the paper’s staff in a vote on Thursday.

Addressing the paper’s journalists on Friday morning, Gallego-Díaz reminded them that they existed to serve their readers. “They know what they can call on us for and what they can’t, and what they fundamentally want from us is that we don’t stray from the truth,” she said.

Her nomination still needs to be formally approved by the board of directors of El País, the biggest Spanish-language publication in the world and an institution both in Spain and Latin America.

Gallego-Díaz replaces Antonio Caño, who occupied the post since 2014.

Under his editorship, the paper was scathing in its editorial opinion of the Socialist party leader, Pedro Sánchez, who became Spain’s prime minister last week after deposing his conservative predecessor in a no-confidence vote.

Gallego-Díaz’s appointment comes a month after El País announced that it had created the role of gender correspondent in recognition of the fact that society was undergoing a “profound change” after the #MeToo movementand recent large-scale women’s rights protests across the country.

The change is also evident in politics. Sánchez appointed 11 women and six men to his cabinet on Wednesday, saying his government was “unmistakably committed to equality”.

He said his would be the first majority-female cabinet since Spain returned to democracy following the death of Gen Francisco Franco in 1975.

“This is a highly qualified government for a society with equal representation, open to the world but anchored in Europe,” he said.